Energy efficiency

The diesel engine is today the totally dominating power source in heavy commercial vehicles. The principal reason for the use of this drive technology is its superior efficiency due to combustion under high pressure and at high temperatures.

The maximum efficiency rating of a modern diesel engine – in other words how well it manages to convert the fuel’s energy content into useful work – is about 45 percent, and there is potential for improving this still further. If we compare it with the truck that performed a corresponding haulage assignment back in 1970, we see that fuel consumption has decreased by about 40%. At Volvo Trucks we are however not satisfied with this and are working to improve efficiency by 1% annually.